For a signal processing apparatus such as an audio work station (editing apparatus) having GUI (Graphic User Interface), there is an operation of selecting a range for an information signal such as a audio data to be edited, which is indispensable to the work station having GUI. Usually, after a processing range has been specified, an editing process, such as deletion and copy of that portion, is carried out. As mentioned below, several (for example, three) specifying methods have heretofore been adopted to specify the processing range.
(1) Specify a range (whose position is specified by marks) between two points predetermined by a jog or the like.
(2) Specify the entire recorded portion (minimum edit unit (track)), a portion cut out by editing, a sub-file to be edited, the entire file, and the like.
(3) Specify an arbitrary range by dragging a mouse, based on waveform data displayed on the GUI.
Though the conventional signal processing apparatus requires several kinds of specifying methods as described above when the range for the audio data and the like, to be edited, is specified (specifying the range to be selected), some lower-grade types of editing apparatuses can support only one specifying method. Recently, aforementioned several kinds of specifying methods are prepared and used with changing the processing-range specifying mode properly according to editing process.
Accordingly, in order to change the processing-range specifying method from the above-mentioned specifying method (1), for example, to the specifying method (2), cancel or suspend the specifying method (1) once and select the specifying method (2). In this way, it is inconvenient to specify the range for the audio data and it takes too much time for editing.
The present invention therefore provides a method and an apparatus for selecting the information signal range and an information-signal editing apparatus which have solved the problems of the prior art and make it possible to carry out an occasional specification of these processing ranges on one screen without changing the range-specifying modes.